Gen Diya witnessed how Tinubu lobbied Abacha for post – Bode George

Former Governor of Lagos State and National Leader of the APC, Bola Tinubu.
Picture for illustration purpose

CHIEFTAIN of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Bode George has claimed that Gen Dipo Diya witnessed how the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu lobbied for a post during the military administration of late General Sani Abacha.

According to a report by The Punch, Tinubu wanted to become a commissioner in Lagos State shortly after the June 12, 1993 poll annulment, thus approached the late dictator but was turned down.

The chieftain applauded Kola Abiola, son of the late MKO Abiola, for allegedly revealing the truth stressed that it was thereafter Tinubu decided to join hands with the National Democratic Coalition to fight for the actualisation of the June 12 mandate.

“It is true that Tinubu went to beg for a commissioner position. He was in the Villa and Gen. Oladipo Diya is a witness. He (Tinubu) said he wanted to be a deputy to a military administrator and when all that didn’t work, he went into his activism.”

Beyond Tinubu, he decried the roles of other “opportunists” who now pose themselves as heroes of June 12.

However, George said Kola must not be victimised for saying the truth, since he was reportedly an insider, being the first son of the late MKO.

Tinubu was a former Governor of Lagos State, facilitated the merger of the opposition parties such as the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), All Nigeria Progressive Party (ANPP) and a faction of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) before the party eventually emerged as ruling party, APC in 2015 election.

“Most of what Kola said is true. He spoke from the heart and he was trying to set the records straight in the face of the many narratives. He had been looking for who would help to recognise the June 12 saga so that his father wouldn’t have died in vain.

“In the course of this, he had bottled up so much. He went through a lot, having lost his mother and family businesses during the struggle. So, he was setting the records straight so that people would not rewrite history.”

The PDP chieftain further advised that lessons should be learnt from the June 12 incident, beyond its adoption as a public holiday.

He argued that Nigerians were more united during the June 12 struggle than today stressing that greater emphasis should be on uniting the nation through the legacy of June 12.

Attempts to speak with Tinubu’s media aide, Tunde Rahman, proved abortive as he neither returned calls nor responded to a text message on Saturday, Punch reports.